It has been a record breaking month for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts with over £1.3bn collected from those moving house in June, the highest amount for one month on record, say leading tax and advisory firm BlickRothenberg.
Paul Haywood-Schiefer, a Senior Manager at the firm said: “With the Chancellor’s SDLT holiday coming to a partial close at the end of June, there was always going to be a significant amount of transactions in the month, as sales were forced over the line by people wanting to save on paying the tax. This ‘holiday’ meant that in most cases buyers would not pay any SDLT on the first £500,000 of the purchase price, with a maximum saving of £15,000 in tax. This is a significant sum especially for those intending to do some work on their new property, for others it made the difference in enabling them to buy their new home.”
“£1.3bn is a considerable sum for one month’s take. The pre pandemic monthly average was £967m per month, when SDLT was payable on all elements of a house price over £125,000. There were approximately 213,000 property transactions in June, another record. The most interesting element of the story is that the record receipts indicate that there are a lot of purchases above £500,000. Many households are moving to larger houses to accommodate their families and get that all important home office space. The pandemic really has changed the way we work and the need for an office at home, away from the family space, is becoming more and more important.”
“For those who are still trying to get house purchases through, there is still a small window of opportunity to benefit from reduced SDLT before the window firmly shuts on 30 September. However, the savings here are a maximum of £2,500, which whilst attractive is not a sum that makes it imperative to complete a transaction.”
Leave a Comment